Planthjhaph



0. I. McGOWAN.

RELEASING HOOK.

APPLICATION FILED 020.31.:918.

Patented July 1, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I Lwemtm 0.1. McGOWAN.

RELEASING HOOK.

APPLICATION HL'ED DEC. 31 1918- Patented J uly 1, 1919.

fi 2 SHEETS-SHEET llllh AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA c.

OWEN J. ,MGGOWAN, or BROOKLYN, new roan.

FFIQE.

nEnnAsINe-HooK.

rsoasie.

To all whom it may concern: a

Be it known that I, OWEN J. MGGOWAN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the borough of Brooklyn, city of New York, in the county of Kings and State of New York,.,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Releasing Hooks, of which the following is a specification. a i i This invention relates to releasinghooks, for sustaining, -'transferring and releasing various loads; and the invention is particu'- larly adapted to use with ships davits for raising and lowering life boats. 'lhe: inven tion, however, is not confined torus e with davits and life boats, but is adapted to he used in handling loads of all kinds, and

therefore, in thedrawings which accompany the specification, show two arrangements of the hooks, first, n connection th n hfe boat, and second, an arrangement for use, 1n ralslng, lowering and transferrlng other;

loads. i i

Thehook i aeharacterized by a body part,

or housinga, in which is housed, orpivoted,

the hook proper, which has a small inde pendent movernentto and fro in theho-usa ing for locking said hook proper in n11 looking it from said housing. Saidhook proper, (which hook proper hereinafter I generally designate simply as the hook) also has a free pivotal motion, whennnlocked from said housing, in a plane which, when the hook is used with a life boat, isulongitudinal of the boat, and said free pivotal motion of said hook trips the hook and releases the boat automatically; said jhook Joe-i ing so weighted, by reason of its shape, as to be normally overbalanced, so that when the strain of the load of the lifeboat is IG I OVed from thehook, as when the boatis water borne, the hook automatically trips and re: leases the boat. The body part, or housing,

of said hook is also preferably pivoted to the upper end of the rods, or other devices, by whichthehook is secured to the boat, so that said hook swings in the 101 451.-

tudinal plane of the life loo-at from both ends, and inwardly toward the nndclle of said; boat; this HlOtlOllwOf the bodyor hook falling as a whole in afore andaft direc;

tion, also tending to insure "the freeing of the hook from the boat tackle blocks, as will be hereinafter more fully explained.

Another ini o p is a liter arhi jh, at h Specification of Letters Patent.

a n 1 9 rtant feature of th s n PatentetlJnlyl, 919.

serted by hand in theproper position jinthe housing, locks said hook so that it cannot open and release the boatfrom the tackle. Thus the accidental release of the life boat from the davits, at, improper times, which m ght otherwise occur, is prevented Said wedge or key is preferably secured to said hookby aaflexible connection, at the point farthest out from the pivotof Said hook, and where the weight of said wedge or key is most efficient in helping to trip the said a hook when said key or wedgeis withdrawn, and hook is free to trip; In use saidwedge or key is always inserted in the l ons ing ,when the boatis being raised from the water, so as to look the hooktothe tackle, and said wedge or key is always withdrawn from :the housing, and the hook is left free tolturnand release the boat; from the .davit a kles when the boat is b g w d, o

the water.

i The hook, as used with lifeboats, can i also be used with various other loads; {but I prefer, when using said hook with other loads, as ill ,rnines :where the rise and fall of the load "is great, or in cases where great loads are handled, to arrange the hook in the yTSVBI'SGCl position from that in which it is plwled when used with life boats-that is .tojsay, the hook is now turned downward and so as to lie beneath the shackle, ring or other neinbers which eonnects the'hook with the load, andfso that the hook now sustains the load, and the :wedge or key is now arranged above the pivot of the hook.

I also prefer make certain other slight changes inthe form and arrangement of the hook, when it is used forl other loads, as will be hereinafter more particularly explained.

In the caseof allthe hooks, whether for life boats orother loads, great attention is given to shaping the. housing and the hook with long easy curves, so that neither the life boats nor any parts of :anyloads or apparatus connected therewith, shall catch on the hooks and tend to obstruct them or operate improperly, but that the hooks will i always glide clear of anyobstructlon. Thls feature oft'he hook is hereinafter more fully described. i a i Referring to the drawings which accompanying the specification, Figure 1 is a a broken elevation of the invention applied life beat and davi ts; Fig. 2 is a broken evatlon ELITIClSBClZlOI'l of ahook 1n locked it ,Qlhinllfil with thelselnag wedge oz'rtkey in place in the housing, so as to lock the hook against accidental displacement; Fig. 3

' shown-as preferably pivoted on the upper end ofthe suspending rods HH, which are provided with clevises at their lower ends which are secured to the keel K of the life boat,sothat the'entire weight of the life boat is suspended] from the keel. Said hooks may, however, be connected with the life boat in any other manner, and this invention i s-not limited to the mann'er in which the I; hooks are' connected with the life boat.

"Each of,said hooks G is constructed and arranged as follows: There is a body part or housing 1, which is preferably pivoted on the upper end of a rod H as hereinbefore 7 stated, and so as to have a free pivotal motion on said rod in thedireotion of the longi-' tudinal'pla'ne of the boat, and inwardly or toward the center of the said life boat; the motion of saidhousing in the opposite direction being prevented by a stop 3. Said mo-' tion of said housing 1, tends to free the hook 6 from the eye or shackle e of the davit tackle E, when said hook trips to releasing position. V v

Said hook is so formed or weighted, that,

'when said hook is unlocked, and ready to. trip, it is overbalanced and falls away from said shackle or eye 6, and to the position of 3 wherein the end of the boat will be free from the davit tackles; and this, as will be understood, takes place when the boat is being lowered and the end of the boat is water-borne. In this position, as will also be understood, the continuous tackle E pays from davit to davit, so as to release the strain on the hooks at both ends of the boat practically simultaneously, and so that the boat falls freely to the sea. At the same t me as the hook 6 opens and releases the tackle, the housing of said hook 1 falls inwardly and facilitates the releasing of the hook for said tackle.

Said hook 6 is pivoted at 7 in said hous ing 1,and the'pivot hole 8 through said hook is somewhat elongated so that there is a slight vertlcal movement of sald hook 6 in the said housing 1, in addition to its free pivotal motion in said housing around said pivot 7 This capability of independent motionis an important feature of the invention, and is covered by several of the claims.

The free end of said hook o, is fornied'with a locking; teeth 9, which, in the locking pe sition engages a head 10 formed with an undercut recess in the upper end of said housing 1. When the boat is being raised from the water, and also when it is being lowered to the water except when the boat is water-borne, said hook is locked with sald head 10 of the housing, but when the strain of the weight of the boat is off the said hook 6, as when the boat is water-borne, the motion of said hook 6 vertically in said housing 1, allows said locking tooth 9 to come clear of said head 10, and the hook 6 to come free from the eye or shackle of the tackle E. It will be seen that the locking and unlocking of the hook is effected by the independent motion of said hook 6 on its pivot 7 in said housing 1. hen connecting the boat to the davits for raising it to position on the ship, the strain of the davit tackles on said hooks G will cause said hooks 6 to turn inward and slide their teeth 9 into engagement with the head 10, and then a man in the boat will insert the keys let n said housings under the cam shaped ends of said hooks 6, and will thereby lock said hooks against accidental displacement.

The lower ends of said hooks 6 are formed as a flat curved cam 12, and there is a space through said housing under and immediately contiguous to said hook when in the locked position in which is inserted a key or wedge 14, when the said hook is to be locked, and which wedge or key then presses tightly up against said cam 12, so as to prevent unlocking said hook 6. When the boat is being raised from the water, and when it is swinging from the davits, said key is always in place in said housing, so as to hold said hook 6 in the locked position and against the accidental unlocking of said hook, and the releasing of the boat from the davit tackle; but when the boat is being lowered to the sea, and before it begins to be lowered, said key 14 will be drawn out of said housing 1, and said hook 6 will be free to turn to its unlocking position, and to release the boat from said davit tackle when the strain of the tackle on said hook is relieved, as when the boat is water-borne.

Both the housing 1 and the hooks (3 are shaped at all parts of their contours, so as to present long easy curves that will not catch against projecting parts of the davit apparatus or the boat, or any other obstructions, but that said housing and hook will slide freely past said obstruct-ing parts without catching thereon, and so as not to be improperly caught or operated by said ohstruction; and it will be understood that 7 these long easy curves are characteristic not only of the hooks which are used with life boats, but of hooks that are used with other loads.

The operation of the invention with davits and life boats will be clear from the forsgw the housings 1, so that said hooks 6 are free to turn. Then the boat is lowered away, the strain of the weight of the boat on the tackle holding the hooks still in locked position, and the boatlowers away practicallyon the even keel, until one end of the boat iswaterborne.- Then the continuous reaving of the tackle E from davit to davit insures that both hooks will be released from the strain of the tackle practically, simultaneously. The hooks at both ends of the boat will therefore moveslightly down, sothat the tooth 9 of each hook willcome clear of the locking head 10, and said hooks will then overbalance and open, releasing the eyes or other members which connect said hook with the blocks and tackle, and the boat will then fall to the sea practically on an even keel, and without danger of being capsized. The boat will then be rowed away from the ship. To return the life boat to the davits, the life boat being in position under the davits, and so as to be raised by the davit tackle, sailors in the life boat at each end take hold of the flexible connections 15 of each key, and raise them to practically vertical position. Then said hooks 6 are inserted in the eyes or shackles c of their respective davits, and said hooks are closed. The tackle E is then operated to lift the boat, and the strain of the tackle through said eyes 6 on the hooks 6, now holds said hooks in closed position. At the same time, sailors at the two ends of the keys 14: into their respective housings, and lock said hooks against accidental disp1acement- Now the boat is lifted by the davits to the deck of the vessel.

It will be understood that in all forms of the invention, said keys 14 are preferably connected with said hooks 6 by a flexible connection, as a chain 15, and it will also be understood that in the form of the hook that is used with life boats and davits, said flexible connection is preferably fastened to the hooks 6, and so that when said key is hanging freely from said hook, as seen in Fig. 1, the weight of said key 14 will be most effective to help turn said hook to its unlocked position.

It will be understood that the keys 14 and the chains 15 serve several important purposes: First, the chain is used for throwing the hook 6 to an uprightposition, and at the same time by the use of said chain the ataaaiant raises the musing book as a whats upright pssitiaa; aaeaurl, at

boatpush the,

tenda'nt raisesthe hook proper 6 toengage the eye a of the block, this motion bringing the tooth 9 ofsaid hook into locking engagement with the head 10 of the housing, so that the hookis now closed; thirdjwhen the weight of the boat is suspended on the tackles, the attendant inserts the wedge in therecess through the housing, thereby se curely locking thehook against accidental "displacement, until the boat is lifted to the ships deckg In all these three movements, it wlillbe understood the attendant atno time has to handle the hook to throwit in a lockedfposition with the tackle, and danger ofinjury to, the attendants handis eliminatedfpf I It will be observed also, that this invention obviates j thene ed ofshacklds, separate hooks and lanyards for housing the hook in connection ,with life boat detaching gears the inventionserving both as hook and shackle, and in this respect said invention efi'ectsconsiderable economy over the use of other hooks.

In all modifications of the invention, the fits of all the parts with each other are loose and easy, and the materials of the housings, hooks and pivot pins, are brass tobin and bronze diminish the danger of corroding and of sticking the parts of the hook so that they will not operate, and in fact the hook will remain in good operative condition for a long time.

Now having described myimprovements the weight when said hook is locked and said hook is moved out of engagement with said body part whenthe strain ofthe weight comes off from said hook.

2. The combination in a releasing hook, of a body part and a hook overbalanced when said hook is in a released position so that said hook pivots to full open. position, and said hook being pivotally connected with said body part and being capable of a slight motion independent of its pivotal motion.

3. The combination in a releasing hook, of a body part, a hook pivoted in said body part and capable of a slight independent motion in said body part in addition to its pivotal motion therein, and a locking key adapted to lock said hook against moving to releasing position when said key is inserted. in said bi; part and ad is rammed rain said said hook to pivot freely to its full releasing position.

' The combination in a releasing hook of 'a housing, a hook pivotedtherein, and haying a capacity for a slight motion independent of its pivotal motion, a cam shaped end on said 'hook, an aperture in said housing adjacent to said hook when said hook is in locked position, {and a locking member adapted when inserted in said aperture to lock said hook against movement.

,5. The vcombination in a releasing hook of a housing, a locking head thereon, a hook pivoted in said housing and icapable of a slight motion in said housing independent of its pivotal motion, and a locking Proj eotion on said hook adapted to engage With said locking head of the housing in one position of the hook, so as gtojhold .SZ id O in the locked position and adapted in another position of said hook to permit said hook to pivot freely to its full releasing position.

The combination in a releasing hook, of a housing, a hook pivoted in said housing and capable of a slight motion in said housing in addition to its pivotal motion therein, and a locking key adapted when inserted insaid housing to lock said hook and prevent its motion, and a flexible connection connecting said locking key With said hook.

Signed at New York city, in the county of New York, and State of New York, this 27th day of December, A, D. 1918.

OWEN J. MCGOWAN.

'Witness:

N. HARRI ECQP'iBS QffthiS patent may be obtained tor 'five cents eaehyby addressing the Commissioner ,of Patents.

V 'washingtonfnacz! 

